Stauromedusae Information & Stauromedusae Links at HealthHaven.com

Stalked jellyfishes
	Stauromeduse from Ernst Haeckel's 1904 Kunstformen der Natur
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Cnidaria;
Class:	Scyphozoa;
Order:	Stauromedusae; Haeckel, 1879
Families
	Cleistocarpidae; Eleutherocarpidae; Kyopodidae; Tesseranthidae

Stauromedusae, or the stalked jellyfishes, is an order of jellyfish within the phylum Cnidaria. They are unique in that they do not enter the medusa stage, instead remaining polyps throughout their lives. After the larvae crawl across the sea floor and find a suitable place, they attach themselves typically to rock or algae to develop. Unlike most jellyfish that practice strobilation, or the process of dividing themselves into body segments, which become new individuals, nearly all stauromedusae develop directly into the adult form. Although conventionally considered to be an order in the class Scyphozoa, recent studies suggest that stauromedusae should be elevated to a taxon equivalent of Scyphozoa and Cubozoa, and should therefore be know as the class Staurozoa.

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